


Have You Met...

by sea_greensky



Category: The Folk of the Air - Holly Black
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:01:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25633228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sea_greensky/pseuds/sea_greensky
Summary: After QoN. Cardan is concerned Jude doesn't have enough girlfriends or fun in her life so he tries to set something up. It's basically to hot to do anything else today and I'd love to know how this lot would actually get on.
Relationships: Jude Duarte/Cardan Greenbriar
Comments: 4
Kudos: 40





	Have You Met...

Have you met…  
The High King lounged back on his throne, an unfeigned look of boredom on his face. Revels were nowhere near as much fun when you have serious responsibilities including, but not limited to, not getting fall down drunk and causing diplomatic incidents. They were also a lot less fun than being in bed with his wife. Cardan sighed a little. Bed was one of the few places that he never felt in any danger of falling short of the very high standards that Jude tended to set for both of them, and he was nowhere near tired of discovering all the mysteries of her mortal body yet.  
Which reminded him of another problem he’d been turning over in his mind for the last few weeks. Being a High King, or Queen, was a lonely sort of business in many ways, it was one reason for this revel bringing the courts together some months after Jude’s coronation. He watched her across the room for a moment over the rim of his glass, before his eyes flicked over to her increasingly pregnant sister.  
Jude was deep in conversation with Nicasia, and whilst he was grateful they no longer seemed to want to kill each other, he was equally sure that they’d be talking about state matters and nothing fun. Jude, in Cardan’s opinion did not have enough fun (when she wasn’t with him anyway). Taryn by contrast was in the middle of a circle of courtiers; both the coming child and her relationship with the Queen made her an object of interest, never mind the scandals around Locke and Madoc. She had found her place and seemed content in it.  
Back when they were still in school the sisters lack of friends hadn’t even really registered with Cardan, but it did now. Finally, his eye fell on some new arrivals. Roiben and Kaye were picking their way towards him through the crowded hall, another couple with them. A troll and a mortal girl. Cardan still wasn’t entirely sure about his plan, or Jude’s likely reaction to it, but when Kaye had told him about a human girl who came to the Court of Termites to duel with a spy for a troll’s heart he’d been intrigued. She sounded like someone who might intrigue Jude too.  
And so he’d engineered this party, got Severin to bring his Knight, Hazel, along with her twin brother, and had Kaye persuade Ravus and Val to come too. Neither had been overly enthusiastic about the invitation but they were here, and Cardan found he liked both of them. Which was hopeful. When they met Val and Hazel seemed to hit it off too, which was even more positive, and Cardan was beginning to enjoy himself by the time Jude had worked her way around the room and back to him.  
If she was suspicious about the company she found herself in she kept it to herself even when Kaye suggested they meet the next evening under the pretext of helping her with some business decisions/market research for her café. Cardan wasn’t sure if that was a good or a bad sign, but it was a start.  
Jude didn’t say anything about it when they finally got to bed either, but then they’d both been too tired to do much more than trade kisses as they drifted off to sleep. Still she was up early enough the next day and thoughtfully polishing Nightfell by the time Cardan awoke. The distracted kiss she gave him on the way out made him worry again about interfering like this on her behalf, and how much she might resent it, but he just wanted her to have people she could talk to about human girl stuff, people she didn’t need to constantly prove herself to, or watch her back with. Surely even Jude needed a break from politics and diplomacy for a while.  
……………………………………………………………….  
Later, and after an extremely dull council meeting (which fortunately no-one seemed inclined to prolong in Jude’s absence) Carden decided t go looking for his wife. He wasn’t entirely sure what mortal girls were likely to do together in Fairy, but he didn’t think of the practice yards as a likely spot for quite some time. But it’s where they were, comparing swords and apparently teaching Kaye some moves.  
Mortal girls are terrifying was all Cardan could think. So breakable, even his Jude, and yet so ready to wave deadly swords around. He slipped off before he could be spotted, somewhat disappointed with his plan. Disappointment changed to something like irritation as the evening progressed with no sign of Jude returning, and a slightly desperate tendency on his part to drift towards the practice yards again to see if they were still there.  
They were. And with a slowly growing group of people. Grima Mog had turned up and seemed to be in heated debate with Dulcimara over some maneuver. Ravus was quietly giving Val some pointers, and even Roiben was there half watching the swordplay, half chatting to Kaye who had given up and had a drink in hand. Cardan felt she was the only sensible person around when he finally gave in and joined them.  
Still, the atmosphere was unexpectedly laid back and friendly, Kaye made him laugh, and yes – even if it’s not what he’d imagined, they did all seem to be having fun, and there were no politics involved. He wasn’t even sure Jude had noticed him until Grima called over to her to explain to Roiben how she had come to win their first duel.  
“I cheated!” Jude called back grinning at Carden as she did and sheaving her sword. Even the continued revel seemed less dull to Cardan tonight, finally surrounded by people who seemed genuinely at ease with each other.  
But it wasn’t until after they’d retired and he’d had a chance to inspect the fresh crop of cuts and bruises his wife had gathered, as well as show her just how impressive his own performance could be that she put her head on his chest, curled into him, and said “thank you, Cardan”.  
“For what precisely Jude dear?” he asked  
“For today, I know what you were trying to do and it was… nice of you?”  
He snorted a bit, “Are all mortal girls so violent?”  
“I don’t know, maybe we are.” Cardan could feel Jude’s smile against his skin.  
“I wanted you to have fun.” He said. It seemed the most diplomatic description of all the things he actually wanted for Jude.  
“And I did,” she replied “I know what you’re thinking and it’ll come in time, but fighting is what we have in common and would you all really rather we’d sat around comparing our love lives all day?”  
“Is that normal?” He asked, startled into sitting up.  
“I believe it is.” She murmured “does it worry you?”  
“Not at all, but it does make me think I should give you something to talk about…”


End file.
